[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1395 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1395

    Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that it is 
   unacceptable that the People's Republic of China and the Russian 
Federation are outpacing the United States in expanding nuclear energy 
              production and global nuclear market share.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 30, 2024

  Mr. Donalds (for himself, Mr. Nehls, and Mr. Williams of New York) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
  on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that it is 
   unacceptable that the People's Republic of China and the Russian 
Federation are outpacing the United States in expanding nuclear energy 
              production and global nuclear market share.

Whereas, on December 15, 1991, the People's Republic of China connected the 
        country's first nuclear reactor to the power grid;
Whereas, as of June 26, 2024, the People's Republic of China has built and 
        connected 56 nuclear reactors to the power grid;
Whereas, on June 26, 1954, the Soviet Union connected the country's first 
        nuclear reactor to the power grid, which was the first nuclear power 
        plant in the world to produce electricity;
Whereas, as of June 26, 2024, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation have 
        built and connected 36 nuclear reactors to the power grid;
Whereas, on December 20, 1951, the United States connected the country's first 
        nuclear reactor to the power grid;
Whereas, as of June 26, 2024, the United States has built 94 nuclear reactors 
        that are currently connected to the power grid, in addition to the 37 
        nuclear reactors that were previously built and connected to the power 
        grid but have ceased operation;
Whereas, according to the World Nuclear Association, as of June 27, 2024,--

    (1) the People's Republic of China is currently constructing 27 nuclear 
reactors totaling 28,971 MWe gross, plans on constructing 41 nuclear 
reactors totaling 44,660 MWe gross, and has proposed the construction of 
158 nuclear reactors totaling 186,450 MWe gross;

    (2) the Russian Federation is currently constructing 4 nuclear reactors 
totaling 3,702 MWe gross, plans on constructing 14 nuclear reactors 
totaling 8,930 MWe gross, and has proposed the construction 36 nuclear 
reactors totaling 37,716 MWe gross; and

    (3) the United States is currently constructing 0 nuclear reactors, 
plans on constructing 0 nuclear reactors, and has proposed the construction 
of 13 nuclear reactors totaling 10,500 MWe gross;

Whereas nearly 70 percent of all nuclear reactors under construction today are 
        Russian or Chinese designs;
Whereas nuclear reactors in the People's Republic of China and the Russian 
        Federation have been generally licensed and constructed in a more 
        expeditious fashion than nuclear reactors in the United States;
Whereas the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation seek global 
        nuclear energy dominance;
Whereas the Russian Federation currently controls nearly \2/3\ of global nuclear 
        reactor export projects;
Whereas the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation undercut the 
        United States nuclear export potential by offering preferential 
        financing terms fully backed by state governments, among other 
        government-to-government concessions, which are more attractive and 
        tough to turn down;
Whereas Russia's state-owned nuclear enterprise, Rosatom, has publicly reported 
        that it is currently engaged with more than 50 countries for over 
        $200,000,000,000 worth of nuclear-related orders;
Whereas Chinese officials have set a goal of selling 30 nuclear reactors 
        overseas to Belt and Road partner countries by 2030;
Whereas the United States was previously the dominant global supplier of civil 
        nuclear technologies;
Whereas the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation control a 
        greater percentage of global uranium production than the United States;
Whereas 46 percent of global uranium enrichment capacity is located in the 
        Russian Federation;
Whereas 10 percent of global uranium enrichment capacity is located in the 
        People's Republic of China;
Whereas 8 percent of global uranium enrichment capacity is located in the United 
        States;
Whereas the People's Republic of China is several years ahead of the United 
        States in terms of its ability to deploy fourth-generation nuclear 
        reactors at scale;
Whereas, in December 2023, the People's Republic of China commenced operation of 
        the world's first fourth-generation nuclear power plant;
Whereas the People's Republic of China has nearly tripled its nuclear capacity 
        over the past 10 years, while it took the United States nearly 40 years 
        to add approximately the same nuclear capacity that China added over the 
        last decade;
Whereas, as of May 2024, the Russian Federation operates the only floating 
        nuclear power plant in the world, specifically to provide heat and power 
        to an Arctic port town;
Whereas, as of May 2024, the People's Republic of China has multiple floating 
        nuclear power plants under construction, specifically to provide 
        electricity to remote islands and power oil rigs off the coast of China;
Whereas the United States previously deployed the world's first floating nuclear 
        power station, which began operation in January 1967 and operated until 
        1976, however the United States currently has zero operational floating 
        nuclear power plants and zero under construction; and
Whereas the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation are outpacing 
        the United States in expanding nuclear energy production and global 
        nuclear market share: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) deems it to be unacceptable that the United States is 
        no longer the world's dominant nuclear energy player;
            (2) recognizes the real threat to United States global 
        nuclear influence stemming from the ambitions of the People's 
        Republic of China and the Russian Federation to be the global 
        nuclear energy leader;
            (3) encourages the United States to promptly expand the 
        United States domestic nuclear fuel supply chain to eliminate 
        foreign adversarial dependence;
            (4) recommends that the United States take appropriate 
        actions, as quickly as possible, to increase the number of new 
        nuclear reactors domestically;
            (5) acknowledges nuclear energy as an important tool to 
        foster United States influence and soft power throughout the 
        world; and
            (6) urges the United States to take immediate action to 
        secure global nuclear energy leadership.
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